Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 21, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
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Germany stays committed to green energy, aiming for 80% by 2030, despite Trump's climate policy changes. Habeck highlights self-reliance and legislative needs.
By Vera Eckert
BERLIN (Reuters) - Sticking with growth plans for green energy is the best response to Donald Trump after the U.S. president's "fatal" move to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, German vice chancellor Robert Habeck said on Tuesday.
"We have to bring our own technologies to the fore," said Habeck, the architect of plans to make 80% of electricity green in Germany by 2030, speaking at the Handelsblatt annual energy conference in Berlin.
The move by Trump, a climate change sceptic, to withdraw from the Paris climate treaty was widely expected and further threatens the agreement's central goal to limit a rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Germany, Europe's biggest economy, holds a national election on Feb. 23, where Habeck's Greens are trailing in opinion polls as a cost-of-living crisis and an economic downturn has shifted some voters' focus away from climate protection.
Economy minister Habeck said self-reliance through domestic green energy remained the best response to dependency on energy imports and high costs, especially as Russian gas supplies to Europe dwindle following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Habeck urged parliament to pass a draft bill giving more digital control of expanding renewable capacity to help rein in rising costs and bring down consumer bills.
Another unfinished plan, a capacity market for power, was also a priority, he said. Otherwise, coal-burning power plants, that offer stable supply, would have to operate beyond the targeted 2030 cut-off date.
(Reporting by Vera Eckert, Editing by Matthias Williams and Mark Potter)
Germany aims to make 80% of its electricity green by 2030, as stated by Economy Minister Habeck.
Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord is seen as a 'fatal' move that threatens global climate goals.
Habeck emphasized that self-reliance through domestic green energy is the best response to reduce dependency on energy imports.
Habeck urged parliament to pass a draft bill for more digital control over expanding renewable capacity to help manage rising costs.
The Greens are trailing in opinion polls due to a cost-of-living crisis and an economic downturn ahead of the national election on February 23.
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